Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Dinosaur Tails

**Please be respectful of my designs and only use this tutorial for personal use. Not intended for commercial sale or manufacture, even on a home based scale.
Make them for yourself, to give as gifts, but I'd appreciate not using it for profit.
Thanks.DINO TAIL TUTORIAL

Today I'll be showing you how to make dinosaur (or dragon) tails!

This is a simple, fun, toy for kids. I designed these tails with two straps that wrap around their waist with velcro in front making it easy for them to get them on and off themselves.

These have been fun during these long winter months when we have to play inside. My boy has "dino fights" with his dad where he wiggles his bum to use the tail as a sword...it's pretty cute.

SUPPLIES:

1/2 to 3/4 yard main fabric-- pretty much any fabric that's not stretchy (this yellow is polyester lining)

INSTRUCTIONS:1. Trim tail strips
Taking your two strips 22" x 11", lay them face down. On one end you'll measure 4.5" from each side. The two inches left in the middle will be the tip of the tail.
On the other end, you'll measure 4" along the sides as a marker. Connect these two markings to create a diagonal for the cone shape of the tail. Cut off the triangular sides and throw them away.

2. Make Spike Strip

NOTE: To make the spikes easier, you could cut 1 strip out of felt or fleece and just cut out a spike strip leaving the raw edges that won't fray, rather than sewing your spikes with 2 strips of fabric.

Take your two spike strips and lay them right sides together. Draw a row of triangles along the strip for the tail spikes. Begin at one end and work your way to the other, making the spikes shorter and narrower. I left about 1/2" between each spike.

Sew along your spike line. When you get to the corners it helps to pivot by dropping your needle down into the fabric, lift your presser foot, move the fabric, then start sewing again.

Once your spikes are sewn, trim along your sewn line with 1/4" seam allowance along the whole strip.

Next, you'll need to trim the seam allowances to make it easier to turn the spikes right side out.

On the top of the spikes, you'll trim off the point, being careful not to snip through your seam.

In between each spike, you'll snip diagonally into each corner, once again don't snip through your sewing.

Then you can turn the whole strip of spikes right side out, using a pen lid, knitting needle, etc. to push the tips of the points out. Iron your spike strip nice and flat.

3. Sew Tail Body

First we'll sew the spikes to one piece of the tail. Pin the largest spike to the tall side of your tail piece, lining up the raw edges.

Sew the spike strip to the tail piece with 1/4" seam allowance. This is just basting, or tacking the pieces together.

Next, put your second tail piece so right sides are together, with the spike strip in the middle of the sandwich.

You'll sew down the spike strip again, this time with 1/2" seam allowance, making sure you sew past the troughs so there is a space between each spike when you turn it right side out.

Also, sew a slight curve as you go around the tip of the tail.

When you sew around to the other side, you'll need to stop your seam to leave a hole for turning the tail right side out later. I leave about 4 to 5" unsewn underneath the spikes. This way, it's on the bottom of the tail.

4. Sew Waist Straps

Take your 4 strips for the waist straps and put 2 right sides together. This will give you two sets.

You'll sew down a long side, across the short, and up the other long side on each set. Use 1/2" seam allowance.

Then you'll need to snip off the corners, being careful not to cut through your seam.

Next you'll turn each strap right side out, pushing out the corners with a pen lid or knitting needle.

I like to top-stitch the edges to make the straps lay nice and flat. For this tail I used a zig-zag stitch with contrasting thread, but you could always just sew a straight stitch.

The last step to make your waist strap is to sew your velcro pieces to each end. Center the velcro in the center of your strap and 1/2" from the very end.

5. Complete Tail Construction

To close the large end of the taill, first mark the quarters by lining up the top (spike) seam with the bottom seam and pinning the folds on the sides.

Next you'll pin your waist straps inside the tail. Pin the straps to the quarter side marks.

The important thing to remember is the velcro has to be pinned opposite so the straps will match up around the waist. So put one waist strap with velcro down on the right side of the tail, then pin the other waist strap with the veclro facing up into the cavity of the tail.

Sew the straps to the sides of the tail 1/4" from edge.

To finish off the tail, you'll pin your circle fabric (with the right side facing into the tail) around the large tail opening. I fold my circle in quarters so I have a crease vertically and across to use as a guide to pin to the two seams (top and bottom) then line up with the waist straps on the sides.

Next you sew around your circle with 1/2" seam allowance.

6. Stuff and Finish

At this point your dino tail is sewn and you can turn it right side out through the hole you left on the bottom seam. Your velcro waist straps should be oriented to match and stick together, and your spikes should stand up out of the top seam.

Next you'll stuff your tail with Poly-fil batting. The density of your stuffing does determine how the tail will look. I stuffed this yellow tail tighter than the blue or green tails, and I noticed it stood almost straight out from the boy's back, where leaving the stuffing a little looser makes a more droopy tail. Whichever you prefer.

Once your tail is stuffed to your liking, pin the hole closed underneath. I chose to just machine sew the seam shut, but it would probably look best to hand-sew the seam closed to allow it to lay flat.

Then you're finished! Now you can whip out a whole set with different colors!

Some ideas for variation:

-length: it's easy to make the tail longer or shorter, by cutting the tail and spike pieces longer than 22", but all the same length.

-felt or fleece spikes: as mentioned ealier in tutorial, you could make the tail even easier by cutting felt or fleece spikes with one layer rather than sewing/ turning 2 pieces of fabric

-make it girly: you could make a more feminine tail for little girls by making the spikes rounded scallops rather than pointed spikes

-printed fabrics: I stuck with bright solids, but textured or printed fabrics would look awesome too.

Thank you so much for this post! I have spent hours on this page over the last week as I put together 3 of these tails. My youngest son turned 1 and we celebrated with a dinosaur themed party so I made tails for bigger brothers and our niece. They LOVED them! Here is a link to my blog post about his party (I linked back to you:)http://chrystal-lewis.blogspot.com/2011/06/dinosaur-birthday-party.html

Thank you for this tutorial.. My friends and I got together for a DIY session and made the tails for my sons. We first used them as dragon tails for a Viking and Dragons party.. and then as Dinosaur tails for a small birthday party in school. Totally cool!

Hello! I just found one of your projects mentioned but when I clicked on the photo it eventually took me to a weird site that wasn't this site! Good thing I'm a loyal follower and knew where to go! Just thought you'd like to look into it? http://blogs.babble.com/family-style/2011/09/13/10-awesome-costume-ideas-for-little-dudes/?pid=5051#slideshow

Thank you for this great tutorial. I made one for my son to wear to his cousin's dinosaur birthday party. He is only 18 months. He caused lots of laughter when we would say "Where is your tail, Will?" and he would turn round and round in cicles trying to catch a glimpse of it! It is a favourite dress up now.PS I also made one for the birthday boy

Thank you for this WONDERFUL tutorial! I knew when I first saw it I wanted to try it out. I am so happy I finally got to it! I loved the simplicity and versatility of your idea. Thank you again for sharing! If you want to see the final project you can check it out here:http://160.7.247.45/whichcraft/?p=1422

Anyway, to mark the quarters just means to have it equally portioned to match the circle to the cone of the dino tail. If you just start sewing, most of the time you'll get to the end sewing the two curves together and one side will be all bunched up and not equal. Rather than marking the quarter of the circle with a tape measure, I just fold it. So fold the circle in half, and pin at each end of the fold. So you've marked half, to get quarters, put the two pins you just put in together, making a new fold in the circle the other way, stick a pin in the ends of that fold and you should have a circle with 4 pins sticking out the edge equally spaced apart. You do the same thing with your circle at the top of the cone. This time the side seams are already there, so stick them together to get the quarter marks on the top and bottom of the dino tail. Then you just match the cone pin to the circle. This way the circle gets pinned to the cone equally around and will end up with a clean circular seam without gathers in the end.

I pinned this a while back in my Christmas present idea board. I just finished it for my soon to be 4year old nephew who is dinosaur obsessed. He is gonna love it. Love the tutorial. I have never sewed a circle enclosure before, and with your instructions/hints I did it with ease. Thanks.

I made 6 of these for Christmas gifts, even a girl version. They were a HUGE hit!! Here's the link: http://www.thebarefootseamstress.com/2011/12/handmade-christmas.html Thanks so much for the great tutorial.

I featured this post in my Fave Five Friday post that will be up tomorrow morning so please stop by if you can :) If you would rather I didn't use a picture, please let me know and I will just use a text link. I also have a featured button if you would like to use it. Thanks for sharing a great idea!

Thank you! I was able to go to the fabric store this evening to get supplies! From the time I walked in the door to completion was 3 hours! Pleased as pie! My nephew is going to love it! My little boys will probably be getting their own soon too! The instructions were great, this is the first 3D thing I have ever made on the sewing machine, normally I am a flat quilt type of gal. Thank you again!

Thank you so much for the tutorial. I've made: 1 for my toddler daughter, 22(!) for my niece's birthday party, and one for a birthday girl’s party tomorrow. I'm making 7 more for spring birthday presents.

i m so new with my sewing mashine. But you described it so understanable. and it worked for me. i did it :) i did it :) my sons love that tails.thank you so much for sharing it.if you want to see it, its here :

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151187944355015&set=a.10151187820585015.792142.22829205014&type=3&theaterrecognized your picture in an availability list from a local boutique, made a comment to them, I've dealt with the owner before and quite like her so I really doubt she's got a clue. :)

Thank you so much for posting this. I found it on Pintrest. I've made FOURTEEN of them for my son's 3rd birthday this weekend!(Including a few shorter ones for the babies at the party!) They are party favors for all the kids for his big dinosaur party! I can't wait to see them all running around at the party! :)

Your post was so wonderful. I came across it on Pinterest and decided to make some for my son's 5th birthday party. Your instructions were excellent. Even as a novice with the sewing machine, I was able to completely them with relatively few issues. Thanks so much!

Thank you so much for the easy tutorial! I came across it in a Google search as my 5 year old son has an Assembly item at his school about Dinosaurs. Can't wait to see him stopping around in it on stage.

how awesome is your dinosaur-tail post? so awesome that because i knew my girls would go bananas over them i bought a sewing machine, fabric & all supplies just to try it out.

i haven't sewn since grade school and i have always wanted to start up learning again. thanks to your post, it gave me the push to just do it. were the tails perfect? nope. did my girls still love them? yup! does my husband want one too? yup!

thank you for the inspiration. i now begin my search for my next sewing project.

btw, i came across your post as a link on FB, i think via laurie berkner band (sings kids song) where she was making reference to her dinosaur marching song. :)

My daughter is going to be a pink dinosaur for Halloween and I am so excited to find this tutorial for the tail, thank you soooo much! I bought purple sparkly felt today that will be so awesome for the spikes yay!

My daughter is going to be a pink dinosaur for Halloween and I am so excited to find this tutorial for the tail, thank you soooo much! I bought purple sparkly felt today that will be so awesome for the spikes yay!

Our little grandson TREX turns one next week and for his dino party I made 12 of these and let me tell you they are darling!! Thanks so much for sharing your idea with us. easy to follow and great pics!

Thanks for the inspiration! I whipped this together last night for my son's Halloween costume. It was so easy! Just posted the final result: http://rustsunshine.blogspot.com/2012/10/dinosaur-costume.html

Just used your great tutorial for making my little boy's dinosaur tail for Halloween. We could not stop giggling as it bobbed behind him all night! Truly one of my favorite things I've made in awhile :)

I can't wait to make another for his brother so they can "tail bash" like you mention :) Thanks for a great tutorial and awesome creative idea! Posted about their costumes and linked back here: http://ssbuffat.blogspot.com/2012/11/halloween-fun.html

Hi - I've just finished making 9 Dino tails for Christmas gifts - loved the tutorial & so thankful for the felt suggestion for the spikes! Can't wait to see the kiddies faces when they open their pressies. x

I just finished making these for my Nephew and Godson. They came out exactly as pictured and my husband & I tested their "tail swinging worthiness"...a resounding success! Thank you for such an inspired DIY idea! Although here's a warning to future Dino tail seamstresses- stretchy fleece makes an adorable tail, but you will need a very sharp needle!

I made 3 dinosaur tails for Christmas. They were the hit of all the gifts. I used printed fabrics since I didn't have any solids in stash. I have pictures on my blog: http://groceryshrink.com/2012/12/chrismtas-photos.html The very last picture is my favorite--tee hee.

This tutorial was perfect! I am a relative newbie to the world of sewing and I managed to make it!! I posted the results with links back to this tutorial at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.456464077736230.95766.149447671771207&type=1. Please stop by and like our page!!

I made a pair of dino tails for my kids (3.5 years and 1.5 years) for christmas and they loved them! I used Organic Stretch Jersey and a double layer of Kunin Eco-Fi Felt (for the spikes). It wasn't just the kids that adored them though, the adults were rather taken with them too! Thanks so much for such a wonderful tutorial. I blogged about my tails (with link to your tutorial) here: http://wp.me/pQscn-Ch

Hi and Thankyou so much for sharing your wonderful designs - I'm hoping my Mom can help me make the dinosaur tails this winter :) Unfortunately a business in Winnipeg has decided to ignore your request to not benefit financially by selling them (The Baby Bin Boutique at 1444 Corydon Ave Winnipeg, MB R3N 0J3 (204) 487-4687) and is using your picture of your children on their Facebook page to promote them.

I made these tails for my sons dinosaur birthday party. I'm new to sewing and it wasn't easy. But after a few tails, it was a breeze. Everyone enjoyed the tails as a take home favor. I just want to say Thank You for the detailed tutorial. As I got more familiar with the process, I was able to take some short cuts.

I am a preschool teacher with a class of 2-3 year olds. I am thinking about making these for them as gifts at the end of the school year. I have 5 boys and 5 girls and I think they would so love these! :-) Thanks for sharing this tutorial.

EASY EASY EASY!!!! Thank you for your precise and easy to follow instructions! I made two tails for my grandson's 3-year-old birthday! He's so excited for grandma to come and give him his dinosaur tails!!! Thanks again!

I have made two of these as gifts, one for my godson (who wears it like a unicorn horn) and one for my son's little brother. They both love them. Thank you for taking the time to document this so clearly and concisely!

Thank you for posting this tutorial. I'm currently making my third round of dragon tails. The first set was one of my first sewing projects and I made for my daughter's birthday party favors. I've also made a bunch for her preschool. The current set I'm make are going to new friends who weren't aren't for the now infamous dragon party!

I just whipped up one of these for my daughter's halloween costume this morning. Great tutorial! She loves her tail and I paired it with a spiked sweatshirt for a great last minute halloween costume. thank you!!!

Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun making these and your tutorial was so easy to follow. My boys love their costume. Please have a look if you get a chance.http://serene-mayhem.tumblr.com/post/101385646257/yea-im-a-dinosaur-so-like-rawr-and-stuff-very

Thanks so much for this tutorial! I pinned it ages ago and this morning hubby decided we needed to make a dino tail for our 3 year old to wear to a Halloween/ bonfire night party (we r in London!) I made one this afternoon and you made it so simple. Even with a 3 year old constantly interrupting! It looks amazing and he loves it. And everyone thought I was very clever! Will share with the world, you rock ;)

FYI I posted this on reddit and its got 162 up votes so far which is pretty big. You should have got a HUGE burst of traffic! I use reddit for my posts though its a lot of work due to their rules for personal posting. But I've yet had one get that many votes. They LOVED these tails!

Thanks for this adorable tutorial. I sew the tail for a dragon costume and it tied the whole outfit nicely. Thanks again for sharing. http://enattendantlehamster.blogspot.fr/2015/03/costume-de-dragon-rapide-et-facile.html